Three faculty elected to National Academy of Engineering

The accomplishments of two engineering faculty members and a computer science professor were recognized in February with election to the National Academy of Engineering.

Elected were Wisconsin Distinguished Professor Michael L. Corradini, engineering physics; David J. DeWitt, professor of computer sciences; and Steenbock Professor James A. Dumesic, chemical engineering.

Corradini was honored for his work to further the safety of nuclear power plants worldwide and safety in emerging waste- processing technology. He directs the college’s Nuclear Safety Research Center, and his international consulting work has included analysis of the nuclear-plant accident at Chernobyl. He also serves as the engineering college’s associate dean for academic affairs.

DeWitt was honored for his design and implementation of database management systems. His Gamma parallel database machine project in the 1980s produced key pieces of technology that form the basis for today’s generation of large parallel database systems, including products for IBM, Informix, NCR and Oracle. His current research focuses on the Paradise project, a parallel database system for managing massive geo-spatial data sets such as those generated by NASA.

Dumesic was honored for his experimental and theoretical research on the microkinetics of catalytic processors. He is also an acknowledged expert in the areas of surface chemistry and in situ spectroscopy. He is currently studying the surface properties of materials that may be used as future generations of heterogeneous catalysts for prevention of pollution during selective processing of hydrocarbons. He also serves as chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering.

Election to the National Academy of Engineering is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer.